Come Enjoy The Mission
Item
17 in. x 22 in.
Identifier:
IA.ITM.000271-->
Description
In 2000, with gentrification of San Francisco's Mission District gaining speed, the San Francisco Poster Collective (SFPC) joined the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition. Their posters and other works were a part of the coalition's multiple campaigns aimed at defending low-income residents against displacement. SFPC not only designed and printed the posters, but also participated in posting them around the neighborhood. The posters "reclaimed public space for low-income residents and clearly demonstrated neighborhood opposition to gentrification," writes SFPC on their website.The language on this poster reads: "Come Enjoy The Mission" and "Cleaner Brighter Whiter Tablecloths." The central image is of a white man and white woman sitting at white tablecloth-covered tables and drinking out of wine glasses. The woman looks out at the poster viewer, smiling.
This poster uses bright bold colors and a pop art aesthetic. The style evokes a "good old days" sentiment, and it's politics are both blatant and subtle. The "come enjoy the Mission" directive, above the smiling woman, is a clear invitation to gentrifiers coming into the neighborhood. The "cleaner brighter whiter tablecloths" line below is a (somewhat) subtle or coded allusion to the racial politics of the neighborhood's gentrification -- white folks moving in, displacing people of color.
On the whole, the poster serves as a parody, poking fun at the gentrification of the neighborhood to highlight its ridiculousness. It walks a careful line, being both amusing and disturbing.